Dozens of ministers gathered at a United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
conference on Monday to urge the international community to work toward a two-state solution between Israel and the Paleostinians, with Israel and the United States boycotting the event.
The 193-member UN General Assembly decided in September last year that such a conference would be held in 2025. Hosted by La Belle France and Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start..., the conference was postponed in June due to the Israel-Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for
spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
war.
"We must ensure that it does not become another exercise in well-meaning rhetoric," UN Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
said in opening remarks.
Days before the conference, French President Emmanuel Macron announced he would formally recognize Paleostinian statehood in September, provoking strong opposition from Israel and the United States.
Luxembourg hinted Monday that it could follow La Belle France and recognize a Paleostinian state in September, with the possibility that other countries could announce similar plans when the conference resumes Tuesday.
La Belle France is hoping Britannia will follow its lead. More than 200 British members of parliament on Friday voiced support for the idea, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that recognition of a Paleostinian state "must be part of a wider plan."
For decades, most UN members have supported a two-state solution with Israel and a Paleostinian state existing side-by-side.
However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried...
the establishment of a Paleostinian state and its would-be borders appear to be increasingly shrinking after more than 21 months of devastating war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
sparked by Hamas
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
’s October 2023 terror onslaught, the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and Israeli officials declaring designs to annex the territory along with the Gaza Strip.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said it would be an "illusion to think that you can get to a lasting ceasefire without having an outline of what’s going to happen in Gaza after the end of the war and having a political horizon."
Beyond advocating for encouraging the mass migration of Paleostinians from Gaza, Israel has offered little detail of what it envisions for a post-war Strip and has pushed back against international calls for the Paleostinian Authority to gain a foothold in the enclave.
Barrot told news hounds at the UN that while there was international consensus that the time for a political solution to the Israel-Paleostinian conflict is now, words need to be followed up with action.
"The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, has to express its expectations and show the means that we can incentivize the Israeli government to hear this appeal," he said.
The aim of the conference, Barrot said, was "to reverse the trend of what is happening in the region — mainly the erasure of the two-state solution, which has been for a long time the only solution that can bring peace and security in the region."
He urged the European Commission to call on Israel to lift a financial blockade on 2 billion euros he says the Israeli government owes the Paleostinian Authority; stop settlement building in the West Bank, which threatens the territorial integrity of a future Paleostinian state; and end the "militarized" food delivery system in Gaza by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.. Critics of the GHF have denounced its distribution sites as "death traps," with hundreds of Paleostinians reportedly killed while trying to gather aid .
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said on Monday: "This conference does not promote a solution, but rather deepens the illusion. Instead of demanding the release of the hostages and working to dismantle Hamas’s reign of terror, the conference organizers are engaging in discussions and plenaries that are disconnected from reality."
The Trump administration tore into the "unproductive and ill-timed" UN conference, calling it a "publicity stunt that comes in the middle of delicate diplomatic efforts to end the conflict."
"Far from promoting peace, the conference will prolong the war, embolden Hamas and reward its obstruction and undermine real-world efforts to achieve peace," the State Department said in a statement.
The US again called out Macron for saying he will recognize a Paleostinian state in September, noting that the French announcement was welcomed by Hamas. Gay Paree’s decision was also welcomed by the more moderate PA, which backs a two-state solution with Israel.
The US statement avoided criticizing Saudi Arabia, which helped engineer Macron’s announcement and is co-hosting this week’s UN conference. Trump has a close relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists...
, who has pledged to invest billions in the US economy.
The US statement did not express a broader position on the two-state solution. Trump officials have avoided weighing in on the matter, but have not criticized the Israeli government as it has taken steps in the West Bank aimed at foreclosing such a framework.
Beyond facilitating conditions for recognizing Paleostine, French officials said the conference is focused on three other issues: Reforming the Paleostinian Authority, disarming Hamas and excluding it from Paleostinian public life, and normalizing relations between Israel and Arab states.
Saudi Arabia reiterated its stance that normalization with Israel "can only come through the establishment of a Paleostinian state."
Speaking at a presser on the sidelines of the UN event, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said that stance was in keeping with the position outlined a year ago by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
"It is based on a strong conviction that only through the establishment of a Paleostinian state, and only through addressing the legitimate rights of the Paleostinian people to self-determination, can we have sustainable peace and real integration in the region," Prince Faisal said.
Israeli officials have long insisted that Riyadh would be willing to settle for less, perhaps even mere lip service to a two-state solution in exchange for normalizing ties with Israel.
Saudi officials have pushed back against that notion, demanding that Israel establish an irreversible, time-bound pathway to the establishment of a Paleostinian state.
Israel, under the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has long rejected such a framework and has taken steps toward formally annexing West Bank lands that Paleostinians hope would be part of their future state.
Paleostinian Authority Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa used the conference to reiterate Ramallah’s call for the release of all hostages and for Hamas to end its control of Gaza and transfer its weapons to the PA, during an address aimed at promoting a two-state solution.
"All countries bear the responsibility to act now to end the war against our people in Gaza and throughout Paleostine, to ensure the release of all hostages and prisoners, and to ensure the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces," he said.
Mustafa added that the PA is prepared to welcome and coordinate with an international Arab force that will help stabilize Gaza after the war.
While Israel has expressed openness to assistance from Arab countries like the United Arab Emirates, those countries have conditioned such support on the PA’s involvement, which Israel has long rejected, likening the Ramallah-based entity to Hamas.
"We must all work to reunify the Gaza Strip with the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, without occupation, siege, settlements, forced displacement or annexation," Mustafa said. "We must rebuild Gaza with and for our people, end the occupation, achieve Paleostinian independence, and implement the two-state solution, where Paleostine and Israel live side by side, in peace and security, towards achieving regional peace, security, and prosperity."
Germany’s Merz says Berlin holding off on any measures against Israel
[IsraelTimes] Speaking after a meeting of his security cabinet, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says that there was no decision to take any measures against Israel.
“For now, we want to await the foreign minister’s trip and the talks that will be held with the Israeli government in the coming days,” he says. “However, we reserve the right to take such steps.“
German FM Johann Wadephul is slated to be in Israel on Thursday.